2. DebConf11 main organizer, I really wanted to see how it’s all done on “corporate” level, for instance we’re going with hotels instead of student dorms and so on.

3. Migration to Linux infrastructure, make contacts and have some talks on this topic, because after DebConf11 in Bosnia a lot of institution will most probably open doors to open solutions such as Linux.

I went to this summit without any expectations or plans, just said I’ll play it by ear. This years UDS was held in Orlando, Florida before Orlando I was planning to stay in NYC for couple of days, therefor my whole plan was to get to NYC, then Orlando then head back home :-)

I :heart: NYC

I spent couple of days here with my cousins and friends, as always NYC never fails to surprise me, and I’ll always stop by even if it’s only for couple of days ;-) I wanted to meet up with couple of Debian people as well, but unfortunately my schedule was too tight so …

DebConf10 ended 2 weeks ago, I’m back in Bosnia and I needed some time to “recalculate” everything that happened to me in last month :-)

This was my third time in NYC, and NYC as a city never left me empty handed, in every possible sense! And am seriously considering option of moving back one day, whether to get my Masters/phD or just do work we’ll see what future holds for me :cute:

DebConf10

I was in organization team for DebConf10, but if you put me aside, what’s particularly interesting is that there was a total number of 7 Bosnians on DebConf10, two of which were government officials. I must note this wasn’t our complete team, and what’s most important of all is that they all pretty much volunteered as much as they could, of course, besides good will to help Debian, but also to at least somehow prepare themselves for organization of DebConf11.

It’s also worth noting that this was their first DebConf, and I as a leader of the team must say I’m proud on how well they performed. I’m sure by being highly active in volunteering they have learned as much as they could when it comes to “how it’s done” and were able to see good and bad sides of DebConf10 organization team.

This moment has finally arrived! Last Saturday (27-th) on #debconf-team decision was made, DebConf11 is coming to Bosnia and Herzegovina! :victory:

Our team and myself were working on this whole candidature for last ~9 months, and even though we put incredibly amounts on energy, hard work, enthusiasm and everything else that goes along with it, suspense and uncertainty were there until the very last minute! One of our local team members (trip0d’s) wife almost gave a birth to their childgave birth to twins during the decision process that lasted full 4 hours :clap:

As a remainder we were competing with Ecuador and Germany to win this bid, whole process was excruciating and very emotionally distressful in every possible aspect for every team member; at one point Germany took a slight lead ahead of Bosnian team, while in the end by “points” Bosnia was in slight lead by 0.25 points, and this is exactly what touched me the most about this whole bid/decision/process.

This is not a great advantage or anything for that matter, but what happened is that in decision process Debian debconf team and its developers picked Bosnia and Herzegovina as a place where they want to have DebConf11! Our main competitors from München, Germany showed a real fair play and at the end even yielded to our side; really to both of you, Michael Banck (azeem) and Andreas Barth (aba) it was a pleasure and honor to compete with you guys! :highfive: See you in NYC for proper handshake and possibly a hug? :P

Well this year, I’ve found an ultimate remedy + stress “reliever” since I’m all jumpy around DebConf11 decision coming around this Saturday :fingersxd: So to whoever has the same problem during winter … take your board/skies (whatever your fix is) and hit the mountains! This weekend I went to Bosnian “Olympic” mountain Jahorina; couple of days later … stress free, depression free and ready for new challenges, in the meantime I’ll let pictures talk for themselves ;)

Yesterday was a glorious day for DebConf11 bid in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I had a scheduled meeting with Banja Luka’s mayor Dragoljub Davidovic.

We met in his cabinet, where I presented him with the paper “DebConf11 in Bosnia and Herzegovina” in which I tried to explain what it all means. From what Debian is, over what DebConf is, to why is DebConf important.

The thing I was most worried about was how am I going to explain all this in simple “non-tech” words :)

Either way, I was in middle of explaining what Debian is when mayor interrupted me “I understand, I’m electrical engineer myself” … you have no idea what relief came from these words! :D

Explaining what DebConf is and what kind of profiles attend one such event went smoothly as well, where mayor made some replicas on my story from the projects he worked on and so on. After my last “case” he also explained me how it’s good that we meet, since Banja Luka was known as “electronic” city in ex-Yugoslavia.